TEACHERS & PREPARATION INSTITUTIONS - BARRIERS

There are many barriers and challenges to conducting the analysis of teacher preparation. A primary and very important concern is developing policies and procedures that allow data to be used by interested parties while protecting the privacy of teachers and students. Although this issue is very important, it should not create an insurmountable barrier, as states have developed procedures to share data and protect privacy. There are obvious technical issues as well. These include procedures for regular data collection, validation of data, linkage of data sets, validation of survey data collection instruments, and development of processes for sharing data. The technical barriers are often really resource issues; with appropriate resources, they can be surmounted.

The more difficult barriers are political and cultural. Political barriers revolve around separate institutions (including states) sharing data in ways they have not done in the past. Cultural barriers revolve around creating a culture of data collection that supports and encourages reporting of accurate and timely information. This is particularly important when collecting information directly from teachers. The data collection will work only if there is a culture that supports teachers providing accurate and frank data to the state. Surmounting these barriers requires that leadership emphasize both the importance of data and the importance of maintaining privacy. For example, state leadership could create a statute that prohibits collected data from being used to make high-stakes decisions about a teacher. Finally, those providing the data must feel little pressure in the form of rewards or sanctions that is directly linked to the information they provide; the larger the rewards or sanctions, the less likely that the data will be valid or accurate.

Last updated: February 6, 2006